• fall season,  leaves,  quotes

    Letting Go…

    A small flurry of falling leaves.

    Where selfishness excludes, love makes room and includes.
    Where selfishness puts down, love lifts up.
    Where selfishness hurts and harms, love helps and heals.
    Where selfishness enslaves, love sets free and liberates.

    Michael Curry

    While walking home from the coffee shop this morning I was caught in a flurry of leaves on campus. Each leaf letting go and entering their freefall into an unknown phase of their journey. I was walking in a green, yellow, gold, and red snowstorm. I loved it. I also saw it as a subtle message for me to let go of my fears, worries, wild imagination, awfulizing (which is just one type of irrational thinking), and my desire to have some control. All of these point to my selfishness. Makes me wonder if our nation of entitlement and privilege is a mask of its deep selfishness. We as a nation are moving into an unknown phase of a new journey, a freefall like the leaves of fall. No matter what the future will look like, may I let go of selfishness and remember that disorder always precedes reorder. Thanks for listening! And, it’s been a cold blustery day here. Stay warm!!

  • coffee life,  street photography,  sunrises

    Morning Starburst

    It was 37 degrees when I left the condo this morning. Cold mornings like today make for chilly rides. In spite of the cold I do enjoy the short ride. And, the Earl Gray tea at Mugs hits the spot. This image is taken outside the front door of the coffee shop just after the sun has risen. The older buildings are a part of CSU campus. 

    Morning Starburst

    I’m getting accustomed to using the bicycle as my primary mode of transportation now. I used the bicycle to meet my oldest daughter for lunch today, about a ten mile round trip. Again, I took the bike trail so I’m not dealing with traffic. They have built tunnels under the major north south bound roads so I needed to only cross one busy road, which has a crosswalk light. These trails also keep me connected with nature, where I get to experience the beauty of our fall season.

  • clouds,  landscape,  musings,  sunrises

    Just a touch of pink…

    I enjoyed my ride this morning to the coffee shop. It was cool and crisp at about 47 degrees but not cold. I find these rides to be invigorating, actually beginning to look forward to them. No traffic to deal with and parking is a breeze. I enjoyed my coffee conversations this morning with Jeff, Curtis, Shawn, Terry and Adrianna, which always seems to make the coffee taste better.

    A touch of pink over CSU campus this morning

    I journaled this morning about how short life is, aware mine gets shorter each day, each breath. I do not know when my heart will beat its last beat, but I am at a place of acceptance when that moment comes. And that acceptance includes finding myself waking each morning with gratitude, looking forward to the possibilities of the day. What photo will be given? Who will I share a conversation with? What lesson(s) can I learn today? What words will I find on the pages of my journal? Will I be present to experience feelings of gratitude, love, fear, serenity, anger, sadness, and other emotions that make me human? These remind me of Mary Oliver’s question asking us how we will live this one wild and precious life given to us? I will not have an answer until I reflect back on my day when I lay my head on my pillow tonight. But, I must say my day has been rich and fulfilling already and it’s not finished.

  • bicycle rides,  quotes

    Bring it on…

    CSU Oval

    “I’ll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there’s evidence of any thinking going on inside it.”

    Terry Pratchett

    Snow fell in the high country over the weekend which probably elevated the heart rate on a few snow skiers. As predicated this morning was the coldest morning this season. So, I bundled up and enjoyed my bicycle ride to coffee and conversation. I am grateful that this last two hundred yards of my ride are through this CSU Oval which leads me directly to Mugs at CSU. We are expecting beautiful weather the rest of this week!

  • bicycle rides,  clouds,  Pedaling on,  quotes,  sunrises

    Moments like this

    Sunrise over CSU campus this morning

    We can express them (beauty and love) with words but cannot define them — we can only say that this and this are included but that is not, and wordlessly we all recognise the truth of it. Speech is limited, no matter what the language…. For in our hearts we understand more than we can possibly talk about.

    N.J. Berrill

    I stopped for this image on my ride to the coffee shop this morning. Makes me wonder if my coffee life is enriched because of moments of beauty like this. Have a wonderful Wednesday!

  • flowers,  Plants,  quotes

    The Deep Call Within

    The mystery and magic of being an individual is to live life in response to the deep call within, the call to become who we were dreamed to be.

    John O’Donohue

    Another 90 degree day in Colorado. This quote is an invitation for some deep philosophical commentary but I can’t seem to find the words. So, I’ll just share with you that my lab tests came back negative and I’m not pregnant!! 😂 Next colonoscopy in 5 years. Stay cool!!!

  • quotes,  street photography

    Lost in the mist…

    “Mystery surrounds every deep experience of the human heart: the deeper we go into the heart’s darkness or its light, the closer we get to the ultimate mystery of God.”

    Parker J Palmer

    I see scenes like this quite often on my walk across the CSU Oval. The back lit light of the sprinklers always grabs my attention. So, I stopped for a couple of images. I find mystery in this image because it includes the cyclist, lost in the mist, riding on the sidewalk down the center of the oval as if they were within the spray. The wind continues to blow this morning, so my hair is a mess, but we have clear skies and sunshine. I am happy to see more and more green. The semester is over, finals are done and most students have headed home. Hope you have a wonderful day.